The Peaceful School Bus Program is a whole-school program designed to decrease inappropriate behavior on school buses while creating a climate of respect and cooperation. The adults in school take the primary responsibility of educating and training students in the program so students can, in turn, act responsibly on school buses when staff members are not present.

Teach100

Center for Leadership and Bullying Prevention

Monday, February 11, 2013

If YOU build it, they won't come (around)

If we want to change the “story” of bullying prevention from
just “a problem to solve” to an opportunity for positive overall growth and
improvement, we would be wise to remember what social psychologists call the Ikea
effect.

The IKEA Effect refers to the tendency for people to value
things they have created/built themselves more than if made by someone else –
in fact, nearly as much as if an expert had created the same item. This is based on research done by Michael
Norton, Daniel Mochon and Daniel Ariely and published in the Journal of
Consumer Psychology 22 (2012) 453-460.

They called it the Ikea effect because Ikea furniture doesn’t
come assembled but requires the buyer to put it together. The act of assembling the furniture increases the person's appreciation of the product and their estimation
of its value. We have all experienced
this in almost anything we do from cooking a meal, writing a poem, or growing
something in our garden-what we put into it affects how we feel about it and
end up responding to it.

Using the Ikea effect is an essential way of dealing with the 5
simple truths of helping that I mentioned in a previous post. This is why is it so important not to impose
problems and solutions on people.
Although it might take longer, people first need to become invested and
involved in learning about a problem and what it will take to address it.

It is better to provide the right environment, resources, and
the right questions for reflection for people as they begin to encounter the
problem of bullying and all that it implies.
This is what I call “leading the learning” which is most effective
approach a school leader can take in addressing any problem or change
initiative.

Since the “Root canal or Right to Know” type of story is already
associated with bullying prevention is schools, school leaders must realize
that they cannot change the story by just telling people a new story-a more
heroic story driven by moral purpose(PIXAR type story).
Old stories get stuck in people’s heads and don’t move aside when
someone starts to tell a new or different one.
If the story of bullying prevention is going to change in people’s
hearts and minds, they must be involved in discovering and creating a new
story.

The Ikea effect assumes that the person has chosen to shop at
Ikea or start a garden or write a poem.
This cannot be assumed in schools especially regarding bullying
prevention. To get people to even start
the process requires that people first and foremost trust their leadership and
feel that their input is not just valued but essential to the entire process of
change. If you want bullying prevention
to be meaningful and effective (your final product or outcome), you must be
very attentive and careful about the process you use to get it. This is why the mandates and pressures for
stopping any problem immediately often force school leaders to impose
solutions. This once again becomes
getting compliance at the expense of commitment. “Looking good” becomes more important than
really “doing good”. This is the story
that has to change.

How do you get a quality product or outcome? It is usually the result of a team effort
where all members’ voices are heard and ultimately contribute to the process of
developing plans, strategies and solutions.

If we want to change the bullying prevention story so that it
becomes like a PIXAR story, we need to embrace the how a PIXAR story or movie
is made. Their quality is directly
related to their process (teaming in the truest sense of the word). They value, nurture and appreciate every
member of their organization. (If you
would like to see a documentary about how the PIXAR approach works, there is a
15 minute special feature on the DVD of Ratatouille that shows the director
Brad Bird leading his team in creating the movie together.)

School leaders must remember that WE must become the key word in
how they approach any problem or school change initiative. If WE build it, staff/students will not only
come around, they will own, use and love the change and the school.

About Me

Jim Dillon is the author of The Peaceful School Bus published by Hazelden. He was the principal of Lynnwood Elementary School for seventeen years. He is retired but works part time for Measurement Incorporated. He consults and does training for schools and districts.
He is the author of :
No Place for Bullying: Leadership for schools that care for every student published by Corwin Press.
He is also a certified trainer in the Olweus Bully Prevention Program.